Friday, October 3, 2025

My day at the Whitney

 






One of the problems with being older is that you don't have hip friends who are up on things. For example I suspect no one I know has heard of the most important artist of the 21st century. People my age who knew all about Pollack, Picasso and Andy Warhol have never heard of Basquiat. However, thanks to Slate Money I now know about Basquiat. Yesterday I even saw one of his paintings at the Whitney.

I enjoy my annual trip to the Whitney. Yesterday was a nice day and I could walk there from the Highline.  It's a nice walk although I cannot recommend the twelve-dollar tacos. 

The best part of the visit was the rebellion. The Whitney has these huge elevators, and I got in one going down. There was an elevator operator who put his hand out and said "That's it, it's filled now so no more passengers." 

One woman outside the entrance said, "Nonsense, there's plenty of room". The next thing I knew thirty people defiantly walked past the employee and entered the elevator.

The elevator operator said "Don't blame me if the elevator stops!" The full elevator then safely made it to the lobby. I was impressed. I feel sorry for the soldiers if our president sends troops to New York. They won't have to worry about the inner city habitues. They'll have to worry about fighting emboldened New York intellectuals.